


hate it when you're awfully quiet

by avapacifica



Series: October Writing Challenge 2019 [9]
Category: South Park
Genre: Bribery, Bullying, Caffeine Addiction, Caffeine Withdrawal, Coffee, Dare, Fluff, Fluff and Angst, I know it was like 2003, M/M, Season/Series 06, Smile, Staying Hydrated, but craig still has a phone for plot convenience, whoops
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-10-10
Updated: 2019-10-10
Packaged: 2020-11-28 18:16:47
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,501
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20970923
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/avapacifica/pseuds/avapacifica
Summary: being Kenny's replacement isn't everything it's cracked up to be, luckily Craig is there to save him





	hate it when you're awfully quiet

**Author's Note:**

> Day 9: Dare  
This takes place during season six, when Kenny is dead and Tweek is the boys replacement friend. I hope you enjoy!

“Drink! Drink! Drink!” Craig recognizes those voices. When he turns, he’s expecting to see Butters, happily drinking down some gross concoction Cartman, Stan, and Kyle have cooked up. But no, it’s Tweek. So that’s who they picked for their new friend, he hadn’t cared to find out after they had eliminated him. He’s not drinking anything gross either, or at least not anything like the polluted water from Stark Pond. It’s just coffee.

Which would be fine, Craig supposes. Tweek drinks coffee all the time. He doubts it’s this much though, empty cups litter the ground, a small pile is forming around the four of them. He’s not one to interfere with the trio, not even on his good days, but this is too far. It was already bad enough when they spread their bullshit to Kenny when he was alive, but now Tweek? He just doesn’t understand why they have to keep hurting people. 

Against every instinct (because if he’s being honest, every instinct always tells him to stay far away from that group) he approaches them.

“What are you guys doing?” Craig asks. Stan and Kyle stop their laughing, and Tweek stops drinking. Cartman on the other hand, seems to be having the time of his life. Wiping his eyes away, he’s apparently the only one not guilty enough to answer. 

“I said I’d give Tweek twenty bucks if he downed twenty cups of coffee, and look, he’s really doing it.” Eric turns to look at the blond, who seems to be shaking an unhealthy amount, even for him. But he’s not ingesting any more. “Hey! Keep going!” Craig would expect this from Cartman, but Stan? Kyle? Not at all.

“You guys too?” He’s honestly disgusted.

“We’re not forcing him..” Stan tries to justify it. 

“Kyle?” If there’s anyone who should be stopping it, it’s him, but he doesn’t answer, Craig doesn’t know if that’s better or worse.

“Come on Tweek.” Craig gestures towards himself. “You don’t need to deal with them. I can give you twenty dollars if that’s what this is really about.” Tweek looks at him, then the cup he’s currently holding, then at the other boys. He drops his head, but makes his way towards Craig.

“Ugh Tweek, come on. Craig, you asshole! Tweek come back.” Cartman tries pleading with him, the other two are silent beside him.  _ Good _ , Craig thinks,  _ feel bad about it _ . They’re quiet as they walk away, Eric’s complaining is loud enough to fill the air. He doesn’t follow them, thank god. When they turn the corner Craig takes the chance to actually look at how Tweek’s doing.

He’s shaking, that much is for sure. It’s not his normal constant stake of trembling though, he’s full on convulsing. His eyelids move rapidly, his hair is more mussed up than Craig has ever seen it, and Tweek’s left hand keeps going up to pull it. His right still has the coffee in it. He goes to raise it to his mouth, but Craig snatches it before he can.

“No more dude.” He takes it out of the quivering hand, but when it’s out of his reach, Tweek's fingers still seems to be grasping for it. Craig looks into the cup, seeing it’s still half full he dumps it out, and throws it across the street for effect. “How many did you get through?” he asks. Tweek looks at his fingers, counting on them, though Craig doesn’t know how he can distinguish each finger when they’re moving that violently. When he gets past ten, Craig is really concerned. 

“Seventeen I think?” It’s a question, and Craig really wouldn’t be surprised if the blond had drank more than that. If _he_ had that much coffee, he’s sure he wouldn’t be able to count at this point. Tweek is also being quieter than he normally is, he doesn’t seem concerned for how bad he looks. He just seems numbed. They’re coming upon Craig’s house, and he takes it upon himself to bring the kid in.

“Come on, I can help you sober up.” Tweek seems lost, so Craig takes his arm and pulls him to the backyard. God this kid needs help, he can’t even walk by himself. Craig leaves him by the side of his house, and takes a discarded bucket, starting to fill it with his hose.

“Why do you even hang out with those guys?” Craig asks. “They’re assholes.”

“Yeah I know,” Tweek mutters, “they told me I had to though.”

“And you listened to that?”

“Well who else am I supposed be friends with? You and your friends never want to hang out with me. It’s just nice to feel accepted for once.” It’s a whisper, so unlike him, Craig wonders if he’ll even remember any of this. The remark still stings though, he knows he’s guilty of ignoring Tweek. “I know you hate me from that fight or whatever.” It’s weird hearing him so calm, it’s like he’s drugged. It almost feels like this isn’t something Craig is supposed to hear. 

And he doesn’t hate Tweek, not really. That fight was just Cartman, Stan, and Kyle (yeah them, fucking again) egging them on, looking back he can see that now. He actually likes spending time with him, he just knows the other boy can be a little much, he’s not sure if Token and Clyde would accept him into their group. Screw that though.

The bucket is overflowing, he had gotten too lost in his thoughts. Craig dumps a little bit of it out, and brings it over to Tweek.

“You wanna sit with us tomorrow?” He asks. Then he dumps the bucket, freezing water and all, completely over Tweek.

“AH! Fuck!” yells. “What the hell dude?” 

“Look, you’re not shaking as bad.” Tweek glances down at his hands, and sees the result. He’s still hyped up, but physically he’s feeling slightly better. He gives Craig a small smile. Craig doesn’t say anything, but he had almost sighed in relief when Tweek swore. The trance like state he was in was starting to scare him. 

“How did you know that would work?” he asks. Craig just shrugs, he really didn’t. “Got anymore tricks?” He pulls out his phone, and types in  _ how to get less hyper from coffee. _

“It says here to drink lots of water.” Craig looks at the hose, raising his eyebrow. Tweek looks disgusted.

“Ew dude, do you know how much bacteria is in that thing?” A lot, Craig would probably guess. That never stopped him from drinking from it.

“Fine ya princess, I’ll get you a glass.” He hopes it doesn’t sound mean, he’s just teasing. Tweek thanks him though, and gives him that smile again, so he thinks he’s alright. Craig leads him inside, pouring him a glass while Tweek sits at his kitchen table. His hands mess with the tablecloth, so Craig takes them himself, putting the glass directly into his trembling fingers. He’s probably just imagining it, but he swears the blond starts to shake more when he touches him. 

Tweek slowly sips the whole thing down, Craig made sure to get one of the bigger glasses. He finishes it eventually, wiping his mouth to catch some of the excess that had escaped from his lips. It wasn’t even because he had been going fast, he was just still shaking _ .  _ He gets up to bring the glass to the sink, but sees the oven’s clock in the process.

“Shit! It’s past 4!”

“Yeah?” 

“I promised my dad I’d help him at the shop today!” He seems so worried.

“Are you sure you’re in the condition to do that?” Craig asks, he almost wants to stop him. 

“I mean it’s not like I want to, but I can’t disappoint him! Ah!” This is sad, he doesn’t even understand why Tweek’s dad makes him work. He’s obviously stressed enough.

“I can talk to him.” Craig tells him. “On one condition. You have to watch Red Racer with me.”

“You’d do that?” Tweek asks. Craig nods, why wouldn’t he?

“That’s the living room,” he points, “the remote is under the TV, you can set it up. Oh, and-” he hands Tweek his phone, to type in his dad’s phone number. The call goes alright, Craig is very forward with Mr. Tweak, Richard seems happy enough that his son is spending time with a friend. It’s over in less than a minute, Craig makes it to the living room just as the beginning credits are ending. Tweek’s on one end of the couch, and though he could sit on the other end, Craig makes himself comfortable on the middle. He doesn’t get too close, he doesn’t want to be overwhelming. Then he remembers the question Tweek never answered. 

“So,” Craig starts, he doesn’t know why this is making him nervous, “lunch with us tomorrow?”

“Oh yeah, that’d be great. Thanks Craig.” He gives him that smile, and it makes his heart clench, but Craig thinks that’s okay. 

**Author's Note:**

> kudos and comments are appreciated!


End file.
